Health Sciences In The Media

With summer in full force, it’s more important than ever to wear sunscreen when outside. Arizonans are at a particular risk for sun-related skin damage, according to experts at the University of Arizona Cancer Center's Skin Cancer Institute.

The FDA approval of the monoclonal antibody aducanumab for Alzheimer's disease has elicited a decidedly mixed response from neurologists who treat dementia. “The FDA had to do a lot of analyses and make a very complicated judgement. I can't join the skeptics who say ‘just say no.’ There are a lot of unanswered questions. It is a tough call," said Pierre Tariot, MD, director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute and a research professor at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

As the more contagious Delta variant spreads rapidly, health experts are worried vaccines won't be as effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19. "It's quite reasonable, especially in indoor crowded spaces, even for vaccinated people to wear a mask because the risk of getting sick is higher now than it ever has been before for people who are fully vaccinated," said Shad Marvasti, MD, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the College of Medicine – Phoenix.

There is widespread scientific consensus that fully vaccinated people have an excellent chance of being protected from severe illness or death from any coronavirus strain, including delta. Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, an immunobiologist at the College of Medicine – Tucson, wrote in a tweet: “Please, no more cries of wolf on variants/vaccine efficacy. The vaccines still work fine in the real world."

Health experts are concerned that Arizona’s recently approved budget, which bans public schools and universities from enforcing mask mandates and COVID-19 testing for unvaccinated students, is endangering public health across the state. “Banning schools from adopting a simple, cost-effective and scientifically proven safety measure like mask wearing while we are still in the midst of a pandemic makes absolutely no scientific or public health sense," said Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD, a professor and epidemiologist at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

Shad Marvasti, MD, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, says it would be a good idea to bring back mask mandates. "We don’t want to wait until after the fact and get caught with this thing already ahead of us when we know that masks work," Marvasti said.

Lisa Shubitz, DVM, a research scientist at the University of Arizona Valley Fever Center for Excellence, and her research team found a mutated gene of valley fever in a pathogen of corn. That became the first component of a potential canine vaccine for valley fever.

Kissing can help you lose weight: According to a 2013 report on philematology, Joseph S. Alpert, MD, a professor at the College of Medicine – Tucson, writes that a simple kiss can burn 2 to 3 calories per minute, whereas a passionate kiss can burn up to 5 to 26 calories per minute.

Shad Marvasti, MD, director of public health, prevention and health promotion at the College of Medicine – Phoenix, recommends parents get their children who are 12 or older vaccinated to protect them from COVID-19. “They can get sick and I think that not being able to have kids wear masks regardless of vaccination status, I think is ethically questionable and puts our children and teachers at unnecessary risk," Marvasti said.

Over the last 10 days in Arizona, COVID-19 cases have slowly started to increase after plateauing for a while. “Cases may continue to inch up just a little bit, but I don’t expect hospitalizations to change much,” said Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, an associate professor and director of the public health policy and management program at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.